When Rich Peverley was traded to the Stars from Boston in the summer, an irregular heartbeat was discovered in his training camp physical.

Peverley was treated in Cleveland by having his heart shocked and then taking medication, but he opted to not have surgery at the time, according to Dr. Robert J. Dimeff, the primary care sports medicine director at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

“It likely would keep him out for two, three months, maybe longer depending,” Dimeff said. “And so he said, ‘I’m new to the team. It’s a new coach, a new general manager. I only have a two-year contract. They’ve got to know that I can play this game,’ and that sort of thing. So we went back and forth.’’

Dimeff said the decision was made by Peverley and his doctors.

“That was a joint decision, an informed decision on his part, again in consultation with the cardiology department here and our other consultants,” Dimeff said

Peverley missed the entire preseason and the first game of the season, but then returned to play and monitored the situation on a game-by-game basis. He took medication to keep his heart rate in the proper range and played the next 60 games.

However, during Monday’s game against Buffalo in Dallas, Peverley said he felt odd, and doctors decided to not send him on the plane that was flying to Columbus that night. He missed Tuesday’s game against Columbus, but then returned and played in two games without incident.

On Monday in Dallas, he collapsed on the bench six minutes into a game against Columbus and had to be treated for both a racing heartbeat and a stopped heart. Emergency personnel responded perfectly, Dimeff said.

To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please consider writing a letter to the editor.